H. pylori (Hp) opens up cell junctions to a black dye (arrowhead).

Amieva/AAAS

Bacteria can break apart cell junctions that link neighboring stomach cells, based on the work of Manuel Amieva, Roger Vogelmann, Stanley Falkow (Stanford University, Stanford, CA), and colleagues. Although the bacteria may do it to gain access to tasty chemicals that leak out, the results for humans may include stomach ulcers and gastric cancer.

The link from cell junctions to stomach ailments may, say the researchers, lie in tissue repair. Injury to the stomach triggers cell division and migration to plug the gap. The chiefs in charge of these processes may well lie in cell junctions—ideally placed, as they would be, to sense whether there is a breach in the epithelium. If bacterial proteins interfere with that process, the persistent gaps could lead to ulcers. And if the bacterial proteins push the...

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